"Please follow me."
"Please remain quiet."
"Please don't whisper among yourselves."
The Magic Apprentice at the front kept issuing instructions as he walked.
His words seemed polite, but his tone remained ice-cold.
Rhode and the others said nothing, following him in silence.
Lalinf and Dailiya were naturally just obeying. How could they dare cause trouble on Arugal's turf?
Rhode, on the other hand, was considering how to cause trouble.
So far, despite all the signs that Arugal and his subordinates were plotting something, nothing seemed amiss on the surface of the village.
He would have to venture deeper and figure out what was happening before making trouble.
Burning Fire Village was quite large inside.
After entering through the village entrance, they first saw densely packed buildings, presumably where the villagers lived and worked.
There were livestock pens, a smithy, a market... in short, everything a village or town should have.
But the villagers' gazes seemed rather strange when they saw Rhode and the others. To Rhode, they didn't look like the reactions of normal people seeing outsiders.
A little... vacant? Or perhaps they were looking at livestock, without any particular emotion.
Once they passed those buildings, Rhode saw a very spacious clearing.
Calling it a clearing wasn't quite accurate, because numerous tents had been pitched there.
The tents were spaced fairly far apart, and he could see people entering them under the guidance of other Magic Apprentices.
Behind this broad clearing stood a sizable hill, with completed houses visible on it. One resembled a Magic Tower, though it was rather short and somewhat crude.
The Magic Apprentice pointed to the Magic Tower on the hill. "That is where Archmage Arugal resides. Only the most outstanding apprentices can go up there to study with the Archmage."
Lalinf asked quietly, "Can we